New France, Quebec and Kings Daughters
Mayflower and early New England settlers
Irish, Scottish and German

May 1, 2010

The Marin Boucher connection

Marin Boucher was born in the beautiful town of Mortagne in the Perché region of Normandy, France. The settlers that came from Perché to New France were generally hard workers and entrepreneurs. Marin Boucher was one of these.

Marin-Galéran Boucher played a prominent role in the establishment of the town of Beauport. He was a mason by trade and was responsible for the building of the town. Marin Boucher is the ancestor of most of the Boucher families and in particular those of the county of Karamouska.

He married twice before coming as a settler to "Nouvelle-France" (Canada) in 1634. His first wife was Julienne Baril. She died in 1627 after giving her husband seven children. In 1629, at the age of 42, Marin married 23 year-old Périnne Malet (Mallet) in Mortagne. Before he left, in 1633, Marin had sold his house in Mortagne to Jean Guion (Guyon) who, too, was to emigrate to New France

After the birth of their second child in 1634, Marin and Périnne came to Kebec (the Indian word for the place at the narrowing of the river). They arrived with all nine of Marin's children on August 9, 1634, and a contingent of other colonists from Perché. Samuel de Champlain himself provided shelter for these new settlers at his house in the fort of Québec. This compound was located on the rocky bank of the Saint Laurence River, just below the high cliffs which make up the palisades of Quebec.